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WISE bags its first near-Earth object, 2010 AB78
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2010/01/22 04:14 CST
The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) just took its lens cap off on December 29, and posted its "first light" image on January 6. Now, just two weeks later, WISE has bagged its first near-Earth object.
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2010/01/21 04:00 CST
Moonbows represent the same phenomenon as rainbows, it's just that the light from the Sun has reflected off of the Moon first before it's separated into its colors by the myriad tiny water droplets in the cloud.
Figuring out the shape of Mars (and other places)
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2010/01/19 01:31 CST
An amateur named Bernhard Braun ("nirgal" on unmannedspaceflight) has been posting the results from a new piece of software he's developed that generates 3-D models of landscapes from single photos.
Buttoning up the Mars Orbiter Camera science investigation
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2010/01/15 04:21 CST
The science team for Mars Orbiter Camera, or "MOC" (pronounced "mock") has just published a paper that attempts to summarize an investigation that spanned more than two decades.
Highlights from the January 1, 2010 Cassini imaging data release
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2010/01/13 03:43 CST
The January 1, 2010 Cassini imaging data release includes everything acquired by Cassini from January 1 to March 30, 2009 in all its high-quality glory.
Odyssey's going to start listening for Phoenix
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2010/01/11 05:26 CST
Odyssey's going to start listening for Phoenix
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2010/01/11 02:01 CST
This description of asteroid 2867 Steins is based upon an article published in the January 8, 2010 issue of Science by H. Uwe Keller and numerous coauthors and on a related press release.
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2010/01/08 01:08 CST
It's been two months, now, that extrication efforts have been going on. It's discouraging that the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit isn't out of the trap.
Congratulations to the WISE team on a beautiful "First Light" photo!
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2010/01/06 12:51 CST
Congratulations are due to the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) team on their lovely "First Light" image, unveiled at the 215th American Astronomical Society meeting.
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2010/01/06 12:28 CST
The United States Geological Survey has just released a new atlas of Mercury, the first to be based upon the three flybys worth of image data gathered by the MESSENGER mission.
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2010/01/06 11:50 CST
CoRoT-7b was the first unambiguously rocky planet to be discovered and was quite small, at under five Earth masses. But a press release issued today suggests that its history probably has little to do with Earth's.
What's up in the solar system in January 2010
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2010/01/04 01:29 CST
While we don't have Moon bases, we do have plenty of spacecraft. Before I get into my more detailed look at the activities of the 20-odd spacecraft wandering about the solar system, I thought I'd look ahead to 2010 more generally and see what the year has in store for us.
Bruce Betts: Kepler discovers its first five exoplanets
Posted by Bruce Betts on 2010/01/04 12:06 CST
Congratulations to NASA's Kepler mission team on their announcement of the discovery of its first five exoplanets (planets around other stars). All five are "hot Jupiters," meaning that they are the sizes of the gas giants in our solar system, but are extremely close to their parent stars.
Awesome Mars Express view of Phobos and Deimos together
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2009/12/11 11:24 CST
My inbox was exploding this morning with messages about a tremendously cool animation released this morning by ESA's Mars Express team. It shows Phobos crossing Deimos, in what's known as a "mutual event."
Spectacular animation of Halley's comet
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2009/11/26 09:11 CST
Saturn's aurora, even better than before
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2009/11/24 03:35 CST
Two more awesome pictures from the Enceladus flyby
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2009/11/22 05:54 CST
Prepare for your jaw to hit the floor when you see these pictures of Enceladus
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2009/11/21 10:26 CST
Opportunity's poking at Marquette Island; Cassini's catching dancing moons
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2009/11/18 04:58 CST
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